LEGENDS OF MUD RACING: TIM AND KACEY GIBLER
By Scott Lemmon
I had the chance to talk with Legend of Mud Tim Gibler, from
Jefferson City, Missouri. Here is what he had to say:
I started playing around with trucks right out of high
school. I had a 76 Chevy ¾ Ton 4 wheel drive. I can’t recall at the moment what
year it was I first competed in mud racing, other than it being a Missouri Mud
Racing Event. Back when I started racing
with them, I started with a modified, which was a home built chassis. I called that one “Bad Decision.” This was the yellow chassis with the blue
sheet metal. I actually bought that one, it was a retired rail that ran
national events with Hard Times Racing. I got it and modified the chassis and
made some modifications. Motor transfer case direct coupled right to the rear
end. Then over the years I decided to
move up. The first one was a heavy machine was dana 70 front and
rear-ends.
Then I ran across a chassis out of Belton, Missouri that
belonged to Mike Hickerson. It was the old “American Made.” He had it cut up in
pieces. So I took the pieces he had and narrowed it up. Put a Dana 60 I had
bought and put 4 link suspension under it. Built the front in with a 12 bolt
center section with dana 44’s outer which made a narrow front in with 3 link on
it with a coilover suspension. Just a 440 Chevrolet motor in it. And I bought
an injection system. This would have been “Another Bad Decision” rolling out in
around 95. And the first race in it was at Jeff City, Cole County Fairgrounds
at an NPR Event. And it was a memorial race actually for Mike Hickerson. He had
been killed by a Monster Truck in Oklahoma. Every year I am changing something.
Taking things apart and putting them back together. Making something a little
different. But basically run that same car and I have that same car.
Basically when I started out, it was all pits. There was
just no fast track surfaces around. Now I have my son Kacey Gibler racing a
blown rail “Bad Decision II.” It was very ruff navigating a mud pit in the old
Bad Decision I and II. I use to take off on the line in this heavy rail. I
would take the manual transmission in the old rail up to 6 grand, side step the
clutch and nail it. Basically it would hydroplane till the weight caught up
with it. And then she would sink. Once she sank…you were done. When I started
racing, it was probably the heaviest machine out there. I am thinking the front
end of that machine probably weighed around twelve hundred pounds itself. Were
we competitive? Well, we had fun! Payout was six places and the first time I
placed in the money, it was great. I never placed towards the top but managed
to get some 5th and 6th places. It wasn’t as expensive to
race back then, did not have a lot in the vehicle, and we just had fun.
I just got into mud racing as I liked playing in the mud
with trucks. And I had some neighbors, like “Hard Times” Racing that did not
live too far from me. We got to going to all the events and watching them race.
And I just always stayed enthused to it and enjoyed off-roading and mud racing.
Things have changed over the years in racing. Basically it
is all about trying to get one to hook. And now we ran a read engine car and it
seems to make it a little easier to get the hook. Weight transfer seems a
little better on them. Things have certainly gotten faster. It does cost a lot
more money that it use to in order to be competitive.
Now we have moved into the blower motor with “Bad Decision
II” and running it over the last two years has really been a learning
experience. I had no experience with blower motors. So it was like starting
over. I had learned the injection systems and was fairly decent at tuning
them. And it has taken us a couple years
to really learn the blower motors.
I really enjoy the rush and thrill of mud racing. I always
like the big races. There is always more enthusiasm when more people are
involved. Platte City was always huge, especially for a regional event. And I
think the biggest challenge nowadays is safety. Getting nice safe tracks. You
don’t want anyone getting hurt…that can affect the growth of the sport. Bigger
payouts would certainly help the sport out. It can cost a lot of money going to
each race. In todays economy, racers can’t last long. It would be great just to
be able to break even on expenses. And keeping it fun. Getting the crowd
through advertisement is a must. If you don’t have advertisement, you don’t
have anything. You can’t fudge on the advertising. You don’t want to run into
people in town a week after an event and hear that they had no idea an event
had gone on.
In between “Another Bad Decision” and “Bad Decision II” we
got into second Modified that Kacey ran. The gray Jeep body with the red
chassis. We had in running really good but traded when we upgraded to the
blower rail. But I still have “Another Bad Decision” with just a little more
work that needs to be done to it after some mods. It is ready to go as my
daughter has expressed interest in racing it. The first time my son drove, he
drove “Another Bad Decision.” Then for one year we ran both cars. But that
became too much work. So now he drives the blower rail.
Now that we have everything figured out, we are looking to
do some more traveling and racing in 2011. If we can find places to run
multiple classes, will be sharing seat time in “Another Bad Decision II.”
Below are some photos from Gibler Racing. Competitors from back in the day and various versions of their ride mixed in.
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